Slovakia are delighted just to have reached the last 16 for the first time but showed against Italy they will not be daunted against higher profile opposition.

They have a very solid spine to their team, with goalkeeper Jan Mucha and striker Robert Vittel, who was the joint top scorer after the group matches, both enjoying an outstanding tournament.

Key Clash

Martin Skrtel v Robin van Persie: Injuries have significantly restricted the impact of both these players in the Premier League and they arrive at this tournament short of football after only recently recovering from injury.

Even so, there have been signs that they are returning to their best during this World Cup. Van Persie is the pivotal figure around which this Dutch team attacks and it will be critical that Skrtel disrupts his influence.

Touchline duel

Bert van Marwijk v Wladimir Weiss: After the expansive but brittle Dutch approach under Marco van Basten, the team of Van Marwijk looks physically stronger and better equipped to cope with the demands of a month-long tournament.

Weiss’s place in Slovakia football history is already secure. As a player, he scored the first

Slovakian international goal after independence and, having already been the first manager to lead Slovakia into a World Cup finals, the win against defending champions Italy provided one the proudest moments in his country’s entire history.

Talking tactics

With two good holding midfielders in Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel, the base of the Dutch team is more solid than in recent years while Robin van Persie should be fresh and continue to improve with more games following his ankle injury.

Arjen Robben is also in line to start his first game of the tournament. Slovakia are well organised and in Napoli's Marek Hamsik have one of the best midfielders in the World Cup.

Bert van Marwijk: “This is an opponent we must not underestimate. We cannot be nonchalant. That period of negligence against Cameroon we had, we cannot afford that again. It's a bit of a lesson for the next match."

Wladimir Weiss: “For our young nation and for our football, this is a very important moment. We’ve a chance to come out of the shadows of ice hockey, the number one sport in the land. The nation is growing up and it’s nice the people believe in us.”